1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of switching systems, and more particularly relates to a paging method and apparatus corresponding to incoming telephone calls.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been rapid developments in telephone switching systems in recent years. In general, the exchange of a switching system is coupled to a plurality of extensions comprised of telephone sets and office telephone lines. The exchange operates a call sequence by selectively connecting a calling telephone set to a designated called telephone set. The called telephone set responds to the call in order to complete the connection of a speech path between the telephone sets. The exchange also operates another call sequence by selectively connecting an incoming office telephone line to the telephone set that responds to the incoming call. The telephone set responds to the call in order to complete the connection of a speech path between the incoming office line and itself.
Generally, the switching system has a loud-speaker and an attendant console coupled to the exchange to enable the exchange to further effect another call sequence. This call sequence is as follows. When the attendant console receives an incoming call from an office line or telephone set, the exchange causes the incoming call to be placed on hold by a predetermined operation in the attendant console. The operator of the attendant console then tries to transfer the incoming call to the telephone set of the called party. If the called party responds to the transfer, the exchange connects the incoming call to the called telephone set. However, if the called party doesn't respond to the transfer because of absence etc., the operator of the attendant console notifies the called party of the incoming call with a loud-speaker. If the called party dials a predetermined number at some telephone set after hearing the notice, the exchange connects the incoming call to the dialing telephone set. The above call sequence with the attendant console and the loud-speaker is called a "Meet-Me-Page" feature.
In conventional telephone switching systems, the attendant console can only receive one incoming telephone call to carry out this feature. Therefore, if the operator of the attendant console receives a plurality of requests to carry out the feature, the operator cannot respond to the requests. Thus the present capabilities of the switching system are inadequate. Due to the inadequacy of present systems, the number of page requests is not maximized.